Karnataka government announces free education for all girls until graduation

In a landmark announcement, Karnataka government just declared that they would be financing the educations of all girls from class I up until graduation.The scheme will take off from next academic year and will cover all public schools and colleges, except for professional institutions.Although, the concept and the idea behind the scheme is noble - to provide education to the not so privileged section of the society, the expected outcome of the policy might be barred from a very limited budget given to it.Higher education minister Basavaraj Rayareddi said in a statement, "We expect around 18 lakh students whose parents' income would be less than Rs 10 lakh to opt for this scheme and are planning to earmark Rs 110 crore."Stressing on how this scheme is different from the previous schemes launched by the governments of Punjab and Telangana Ryareddi said, "We are not copying their schemes. It's a model one and a major leap towards women's empowerment." He further added, "The scheme is for all girls unlike their schemes which are restricted to certain classes and income groups.""It is mainly in rural areas where girls come from families earning less than Rs 10 lakh that the government needs to extend incentives. But the government will not discriminate between cities and rural areas and poor and rich. It is ready to reimburse fees to all girl students," the education minister said.Let us hope more underprivileged girls would be able to get the education they deserve after benefiting from the scheme.Thoughts?